Building wall construction

ABSTRACT

A BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION THAT INCLUDES A PLURALITY OF PANEL ELEMENTS WHICH ARE MOUNTED ON A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE BY MEANS OF A CLAMPING ARRANGEMENT TO FORM A WALL PORTION THEREOF, OR WHICH ARE SUPPORTED IN SPACED APART RELATION TO FORM A SPACED WALL CONSTRUCTION.

Oct, 12, 1971 E. c. BARBERA BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 11, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR EDMUND C. BARBERA Oct. 12, 1971 E. c. BARBERA BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11, 1969 A+ 9 W M m m m). m Q m vl w ll u 1 H a} INVENTOR EDMUND C. BARBERA BY W ATTORNEY.

/.//v/ .7//// 7 A a m m 2 Oct In E. c. BRBER BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 11, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR EDMUND C. BARBERA ATTORNEY.

'United States Patent i 3,611,664 BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Edmund C. Barbera, 55 Hillandale Road, Port Chester, N.Y. 10573 Filed Aug. 11, 1969, Ser. No. 848,923 Int. Cl. E04c 1/10 U.S. Cl. 52-479 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A building wall construction that includes a plurality of panel elements which are mounted on a supporting structure by means of a clamping arrangement to form a wall portion thereof, or which are supported in spaced apart relation to form a spaced wall construction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates generally to a building wall construction, and more particularly, to a plurality of panel elements assembled to form a wall construction.

Description of the prior art Heretofore, building wall panels have been proposed which included a plurality of panel elements mounted on supporting structures which, in turn, were mounted or afiixed to a base or wall surface. It has further been proposed to assemble building wall blocks which included spaced panels interconnected by some type of spacing structure. The assembly of such conventional wall panels and blocks has not proven satisfactory in view of the multiple manual assembly operations involved, such as screwing, clamping and the like, which require a fair degree of skill. Additional problems have arisen with respect to conventional building wall structures in the manner by which they are made and interconnected. For example, with respect to a wall structure constructed of spaced panel elements, it is customary to have the spacing structure inserted directly into the respective panels. This has not provided a practical and operative interconnecting arrangement and has resulted in making the conventional building panels and blocks heavy, complicated and expensive to manufacture.

The above and other disadvantages known in the aforesaid conventional building wall structures prompted the applicant to invent and develop improved structures such as those referred to in US. Pat. No. 3,405,495. This referred to patent is directed generally to a construction that includes a plurality of pairs of spaced panel members arranged in vertically staggered and longitudinally end abutting relation. Each panel member is provided with a connector member extending along and secured to a longitudinal edge thereof. The connector members cooperate in association with spacing members to support pairs of panel members in spaced apart relation.

The present invention generally provides for an improved building wall construction directed toward overcoming the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. In this connection, the present invention is an improvement over applicants prior US. Pat. No. 3,405,495 and provides improved means for mounting a plurality of panel elements on support means, which in turn, are mounted on a wall or base surface, all as will be explained in detail subsequently herein. In another embodiment of the invention, improved means are provided for sup porting a plurality of pairs of opposed panel elements in spaced apart relation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The building wall construction of the present invention includes a plurality of panel elements that are mounted on a supporting structure to form a wall portion thereof, or are supported in spaced apart relation to form a spaced wall construction. Each. panel cooperates with an elongated mounting member having a cross section defining first, second and third groove portions; two of which grooves are substantially aligned and oppositely extending with respect to each other for receiving the tongue-like portions of the panel elements located immediately above and below said elongated mounting member. The third groove portion is laterally related to one of the other groove portions and cooperates with a clamping structure provided on a support member, which in turn, affixes said panels to a plurality of such spaced support members.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to construct a building wall structure that will provide a sturdy competitive article of manufacture.

Another object and feature of the invention is to provide a building wall construction wherein a pair of panel elements are kept accurately spaced and firmly supported.

A further object and feature of this invention is to provide a building wall construction wherein the individual components are economical to manufacture and easy to assemble.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nevertheless illustrative embodiment in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, partly in section, illustrating a plurality of panel elements and their associated mounting means and supporting means forming a portion of a building wall constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken through line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a building wall constructed in accordance with the present invention, the panel elements being mounted and supported to form a corner;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken through line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the 90 corner construction;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one form of retaining structure used in connection with the bracing rods of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a partial top plan view of another embodiment of the building wall constructed in accordance with the present invention, the panel elements being mounted and supported in spaced apart relation;

FIG. 9 is a partial side elevational view in section taken through lines 99' of FIG. 8; and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are side elevational views in section illustrating adjacent panel elements arranged to form selected angularly related corners.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a portion 10 of a building wall construction demonstrating objects and advantages of the present invention. Wall portion 10 includes a plurality of panel elements 12 supported on a wall or base structure by means of a plurality of spaced support members 14. Mounting means 16 are provided for mounting the panel elements 12 on support members 14 in a manner to be hereinafter described.

In describing the features of panels 12 and mounting means 16, reference can be had to applicants US. Pat. No. 3,405,495 which generally provided for a somewhat similar interconnecting arrangement between these parts. For example, each of said panels 12 is substantially rectangular in shape and preferably formed of a frangible cementitious composition. \In the preferred embodiment, each panel 12 has a 2% x inch cross section and extends for a longitudinal length of 24 inches. It will be appreciated, however, that these dimensions are purely illustrative and are not to be interpreted as being limitations on the present invention. Similarly, panels 12 can be formed of other materials, such as wood, metal, plastic or the like.

Each panel 12 has a flat face 18 which is finished, embossed, raised or provided with other finished designs. The reverse or inner surface 20 of each panel 12 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending grooves (not shown) that serve as a roughening surface to which is secured sheet material (not shown) which serves to resist breakage of the panels. Reference is directed to applicants aforesaid Pat. No. 3,405,495 for the specific showing and description of these features wherein the sheet material is preferably described as a woven cotton fabric which is bonded to the inner roughened surface of the panels by means of a sodium silicate solution.

Panels 12 are further provided with oppositely disposed recessed end edge portions 22 which serve to secure adjacent like panels 12 together. For example, upon assembling panel elements 12 in longitudinally end abutting relation, it is preferable to span the joint between said end abutting panels 12 with a mortar composition 2-4; said mortar filling the recessed end edge portions 22 of said panels 12. The mortar serves to firmly connect the adjacent panels and prevents the joint from being exposed to unfavorable weather conditions. The side edge portions of panels 12 are also recessed, as shown in FIG. 2, to provide longitudinally extending tongues 26 which serve to interconnect panels 12 with the mounting means 16 located adjacent thereto in a manner which will be subsequently explained in greater detail herein.

Referring now to the means for supporting the panel elements 12 on a wall or base structure W, attention is directed to support members 14 which preferably are located in laterally spaced relation to each other. Support members 14 are constructed of steel material, or the like, and preferably having a channel-shape cross section including a wall portion 28 and side flange portions 30. The flange portions 30 are joined to their associated wall portion 28 by intermediate leg portions 32 which serve to locate flange portions 30 in a plane displaced from and substantially parallel to the plane of the associated wall portion 28. The construction is such so as to locate the back or rear surface portion of flanges 30 in abutting relation to wall or base structure W, whereupon screws 3-4 or other suitable fasteners, such as nails or the like, are utilized for afiixing said support member 14 to base or wall W. In the preferred embodiment, the wall portion 28 and the flange portions 30 are provided with suitably sized, spaced openings 36, through which openings pass the shank portion of screws 34, to facilitate the mounting operation. If desired, bracing means 38 such as rod member 40 or the like, may be provided for extending between and interconnecting adjacent support members 14. In this connection, spaced retaining means 42 are provided on [flange portions 30' which cooperate with the front surface of said flanges to define elongated passages 44 therebetween, whereby the opposite end portions 46 of rods 40 are suitably deformed or bent and are received within selected passages located on adjacent flange portions 30 for interconnecting a pair of laterally spaced support members 14.

The desired length of the support members 14 will depend on the intended field or application of use. It is contemplated that such members can be formed in 8 ft. lengths and that, if necessary, additional members can be stacked in end edge abutting relation and coupled together by any one of the varied techniques well known in the coupling art; such as for example, a sleeve member as will be hereinafter described in connection with the description of FIG. 4. Furthermore, the lateral distance between spaced support members 14 can be varied, as required, to satisfy a particular application of the invention. It will be appreciated that any such above mentioned dimensional characteristic is purely illustrative and is not to be deemed a liminitation of the invention. It will be further noted from the illustrative embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 9, that in certain applications where it proves difficult to aflix the support members 14 to a wall W, it may be preferable to aflix the lower or other portion of said member 14 to a base structure B by means of angle bracket or channel 48. In this connection, support members 14 may be secured to one of the leg portions 50 of said channel 48 by means of a complementary nut and bolt arrangement 52, whereas the other leg portion 54 serves to afiix said channel 48 to base B by means of suitable fasteners 56. V

Projecting outwardly from the front surface of wall portions 28 of support members 14 are a plurality of longitudinally spaced sets of clamping tongue portions 58 for clamping mounting means 16 therebetween. More specifically, each set of clamping tongue portions 58 includes a first tongue portion 60 fixedly projecting from Wall 28 and extending upwardly in spaced relation thereto, and a second tongue portion or portions 62 projecting from said wall 28 and initially extending upwardly thereof in spaced relation thereto. Tongue portions 60 and 62 are preferably stamped out of wall portion 28. The present invention provides for the terminal portions 64 of second tongue portions 62 to be deformable in a direction toward said first tongue portions 60 to engage an exterior surface portion of mounting means 16 therebetween.

Mounting means 16 includes a plurality of spaced elongated members 66, preferably extruded from aluminum, each having a cross section defining first, second and third groove portions represented by numerals 68, 70 and 72, respectively. Grooves 68, 70 and 72 extend longitudinally for the full extent of elongated member 66 with grooves 68 and 70 being laterally related to each other and opening in oppositely extending directions. The construction is such that grooves 70 and 72 also open in oppositely extending directions but are vertically related to each other. Accordingly, and in other words, elongated member 66 may be considered as having a substantially H-cross section to provide substantial vertical alignment between grooves 70 and 72, with one edge of groove 70 being outwardly turned over to provide groove 68.

It will now be apparent from the drawings, that groove 68 cooperates with clamping tongue portions 58 for securing elongated member 66 to support members 14 whereas grooves 70 and 72 serve to receive the longitudinally extending tongues 26 of vertically related and adjacent panel elements 12. More specifically, the construction of wall portion 10 can be readily assembled by first securing or afiixing the support members 14 to a wall W or base B supporting structure. Thereafter, spaced elongated members 66 are loosely coupled to support members 14 by locating tongue portion 60 within groove portion 68. The loose initial coupling of members 66 to support members 14 facilitates the ease of assembly and results from tongue portion 60 having a transverse dimension substantially less than groove 68. It will be further appreciated that tongue portions 62 do not hinder or retard the insertion of tongue 60 into groove 68 since said tongues 62 extend upwardly at this time in a direction away from tongue 62. Once elongated members 66 are properly located, the terminal portions 64 of tongues 62 can be' initially slightly deformed or bent in a direction toward tongue 60 to loosely grip the elongated member 66 therebetween and prevent same from being thereafter freely moved from its partially gripped position. Panel elements 12 can now be interposed and located between vertically related and adjacent elongated members 66 by locating the longitudinally extending tongues 26 of said panels within opposed grooves 70 and 72 of adjacent members 66. Since members 66 are in a loosely gripped position, it is necessary to insert the panels in said grooves in an edgewise manner. After each row of panels is properly located, the terminal portions 64 of tongues 62 are further deformed or bent in a direction toward tongue 60 to firmly grip the elongated member therebetween. This gripping or clamping operation exerts a downward force on member 66 and thus serves to firmly clamp and retain the row of panels in the desired location. Mortar composition 24 can now be applied at the juncture of adjacent end abutting panels 12 for weather proofing purposes, in the manner heretofore described, by filling the recessed end edge portions 22 of said adjacent panels. If desired, the front surface of elongated member "66 can also be roughened and additional mortar 24A applied thereon.

The length of elongated members 66 can be selectively chosen for a particular application. In the preferred construction of the invention, the end edges of adjacent end abutting members 66 are located at the center line CL of wall portion 28 of support member 14. The arrangement is such that the first tongue portion 60 spans the joint between said end abutting members 66 and is received within the respective adjacent downwardly opening grooves 68 of said elongated members 66. The second tongue portions 62 are suitably laterally spaced so that one of said tongue portions 62 cooperates with one of said adjacent elongated members 66 whereas the other one of said tongues 62 cooperates with the other one of said adjacent members 66 for securing the end edge abutting portions of said adjacent elongated members 66 to a common support member 14.

It will now be appreciated from the above description, that the present invention provides for an improved building wall construction that eliminates the difficulties and other shortcomings heretofore referred to in the prior art. The wall can be constructed and assembled rather quickly with a minimum of effort, and such assembly does not require the services of highly skilled personnel. Labor and material costs are thus sharply reduced as compared to conventional construction designs and techniques.

The wall can be readily constructed to form 90 corners as well as other angularly related roof or partition portions. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the panel elements 12 are arranged to form 90 corners wherein the end edges of said panels may be joined and interconnected by a suitable corner member such as illustrated in greater detail in applicants previously referred to Pat. No. 3,405,495. If desired, additional coupling means can be utilized to assist in securing adjacent like elongated members 66 together. For example again referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, upon as sembling members 66 in longitudinally end abutting relation, it may be desirable to span the joint between said end abutting members 66 with coupling means 74; said coupling means preferably being illustrated as a sleeve member 76. Sleeve 76 is formed of aluminum or other lightweight metal and is provided with a groove having a configuration complementary to the outer surface of groove 68. It will thus be noted that sleeve 76 can be readily slid over said outer surface of groove 68 and positioned to span the joint between said end abutting members 66.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the preferred manner for forming the 90 corner construction utilizing adjacent support members 14. The arrangement is such that the side edges of adjacent flange portions 30 are in contacting relation to each other and a right angle bracket 79 further interconnects said support members 14 for providing additional rigidity to the corner construction. In this connection, a plurality of such brackets 79 can be provided in vertically spaced relation whereby the respective legs 81 thereof are suitably fastened to the associated wall portions 28 of the adjacent support members 14 by means of screws or bolts 83, or the like. Specially curved mounting means 16 are provided solely for these corner constructions, which, aside from the curvature, are identical to mounting means 16 heretofore described. Curved mounting means 16' are suitably sized to cooperate with the associated clamping tongue portions 58 of the adjacent support members 14. For these corner applications, it is within the scope of the invention to provide correspondingly curved panel elements for use in cooperation with the curved mounting means 16. The wrap around features of the curved corner mounting means 16' and the correspondingly curved panel elements serves to maintain the proper level or alignment between the rows of panels to each side of the corner, and further serves to eliminate the weather proofing problems normally encountered in conventional brick corner constructions.

It will be appreciated that special corner support members can be provided having a one-piece construction which may be used in place of the separate adjacent support members 14. In such case, the one-piece support member can be made sufiiciently rigid so as to eliminate the need for the angle brackets 79.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another structural assembly wherein a plurality of pairs of panel elements 12 are mounted and supported in spaced apart relation. In this embodiment, the support members 14 are arranged in pairs and supported in spaced apart relation. The assembly is such that the lower portion of said members 14 is affixed to the base structure B in the manner heretofore described. The panel elements 12, mounting means 16 and support members 14 are similar to those components previously described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2 and, hence, a detailed description of same with respect to the spaced wall structure is not deemed necessary. In assembling the spaced wall structure, it is preferable to provide additional bracing means 78, such as rod members or the like, extending between and interconnecting the pairs of opposed elongated support members 14. In this connection, additional spaced retaining means 82, similar to retaining means 42, are provided on flange portions 30 which cooperate with the rear surface of said flanges to define elongated passages 84 therebetween, whereby the opposite end portions 86 of rods 80 are suitably deformed or bent and are received within selected passages located on opposed flange portions .38 for interconnecting a pair of said opposed support members 14.

FIG. 7 shows another form of retaining means 88 which may be used in place of the retaining means 42 and 82 in the spaced wall construction of FIGS. 8 and 9. More specifically, unit 88 is one-piece in construction and is provided with a forked end 90 which receives between the opposing surfaces thereof the marginal edge portions of flange 30. The other end of unit 88 is provided with two adjacent cylinder-like portions 92 having passages 94 therein. Each one of cylindrical portions 92 is off-set with respect to the center line of the unit, whereby the adjacent portions 92 extend, respectively, to opposite sides thereof. The arrangement is such that the passages 94 receive the end portions of the rods 40 and 80 for interconnecting adjacent support members 14 and opposed support members 114, re spectively.

It will now be appreciated from the description of the 90 corner and spaced wall constructions that the panel elements can be used to form enclosures for foundation and pilaster constructions. For example, the spaced panels can be assembled to the desired height of the foundation whereby the spaces between said panels can be filled with concrete; thus eliminating the necessity for building forms which have to be removed after a concrete foundation has been poured.

Attention is now briefly directed to FIGS. and 11 which illustrate two separate connector units for locating adjacent panel elements in an angularly related position. FIG. 10 is directed to a connector unit 96 which includes mounting means 16 and connector member 98. Complementary means, in the form of tongues and grooves, are utilized to join mounting means 16 and member 98 in a selected, fixed angularly related position. Additional grooves are provided in mounting means 16, as heretofore described, and in member 98 for receiving the adjacent panel elements 12, whereby said panels are located in a 90 position with respect to each other. The constructional arrangement in FIG. 11 is similar to that of FIG. 10 wherein connector unit 96 includes a connector member 98' which locates the panels in a 45 position with respect to each other. It is obvious that numerous design combinations can be formed in connector members 98 and 98' to locate the panels in any one of a selected angularly related position.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

1. In a building wall construction having a plurality of panel elements forming a wall portion, means for supporting said wall portion and means for mounting said panel elements on said supporting means, wherein the improvement comprises:

(a) said mounting means including an elongated member;

(b) said supporting means including a plurality of spaced support members, each of said support members having a channel-shaped cross section including a wall portion and side flange portions;

(c) bracing means including at least one member having opposite end portions extending between and interconnecting the adjacent flange portions of a pair of laterally spaced support members; and

(d) at least one set of spaced clamping tongue portions projecting from one side of said wall portion for clamping the elongated member therebetween.

2. The building wall construction as recited in claim 1, wherein said elongated member has a cross section defining a groove portion, one of said set of tongue portions being disposed interiorly of said groove portion and another of said set of tongue portions being disposed exteriorly of said groove portion for clamping the elongated member therebetween.

3. The building wall construction as recited in claim 2, wherein said set of tongue portions includes a first tongue portion and a second tongue portion located in displaced relation to each other, said first tongue portion fixedly projecting from said wall portion and extending into said groove portion and said second tongue portion being deformable to a position to engage an exterior surface portion of said elongated member.

4. The building wall construction as recited in claim 2, wherein the cross section of said elongated member further defines a second groove portion adjacent to said first mentioned groove portion for receiving an edge portion of a panel element.

5. The building wall construction as recited in claim 4, wherein the cross section of said elongated member further defines a third groove portion for receiving an edge portion of another panel element and locating said other panel element in a predetermined spatial relation to said first mentioned panel element.

6. The building wall construction as recited in claim 5, wherein said second and third groove portions are substantially aligned and oppositely extending with respect to each other.

7. The building wall construction as recited in claim 1, wherein said flange portions are in a plane displaced from and substantially parallel to the plane of their associated wall portion.

8. In a building wall construction having a plurality of pairs of opposed panel elements, means for supporting said pairs of panel elements in spaced apart relation and means for mounting said pairs of panel elements on said supporting means, wherein the improvement comprises:

(a) said mounting means including a pair of opposed elongated members; 1 j

(b) said supporting means including a pair of opposed elongated support members having wall portions; and

(c) at least one set of spaced clamping tongue'portions projecting from one side of said wall portions for clamping the respective elongated member adjacent thereto.

9. The building wall construction as recited in claim 8,- wherein each set of tongue portions includes a first tongue portion and a second tongue portion located in displaced relation to each other, said first tongue portion fixedly projecting from its associated wall portion, and said second tongue portion projecting from said associated wall portion and having a terminal portion deformable in a direction toward said first tongue portion.

10. The building wall construction as recited in claim 8, further including bracing means extending between and interconnecting said opposed elongated support members.

11. The building wall construction as recited in claim 10, wherein each of said support members has a channelshape cross section including said wall portion and side flange portions, said bracing means including at least one member having opposite end portions extending between and interconnecting opposed flange portions of said pair of opposed support members.

12. The building wall construction as recited in claini 10, wherein said supporting means further includes a plurality of said pair of opposed elongated support members disposed in laterally spaced relation, and additional bracing means extending between and interconnecting adjacent support members.

13. The building wall construction as recited in claim 12, wherein each of said support members has a channelshape cross section including said wall portion and side flange portions, said additional bracing means including at least one member having opposite end portions ex-. tending between and interconnecting the adjacent flange portions of a pair of laterally spaced support members.

14. In a building wall construction having a plurality of panel elements forming a wall portion, means for supporting said wall portion and means for mounting said panel elements on said supporting means, wherein the improvement comprises:

(a) said mounting means including an elongated member having a cross section defining a first downwardly opening groove portion, a second upwardly opening groove portion and a third downwardly opening groove portion;

(b) said first and second groove portions being laterally related and opening in oppositely extending vertical directions, one edge of the upwardly opening second groove having an outwardly turned over por: tion to provide the downwardly opening first groove of said laterally related grooves;

(c) said second and third groove portions being vertically related and opening in oppositely extending vertical directions, said second and third grooves being in substantially vertically aligned relation for respectively receiving edge portions of vertically related panel elements; 3

(d) said supportingmeans including a plurality of spaced support members, each of said support members having a wall portion; and a (e) at least one set of spaced clamping tongue portions projecting from one side of said wall portion;

(f); one of said set of tongue portions being disposed interi'orly of the first groove of the elongated mem-r her and another of said set of tongue portions being disposed exteriorly of the first groove of the elongated Tinmber, said set of tongue portions clamping the elongated member therebetween,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Leland 52-378 X Droeger 52-480 X Hunter 52-496 X Zibell 52-379 X Kay 52-562 X Kempf 52-347 Barbera 52-562 US. Cl. X.R. 

